Before We Go
by EyesOfADoe18
Summary: Lily Evans has one day before her 7th year begins and she has not completed one thing on her to do list. A random stranger offers her his help and a journey of ups and downs, laughs and a whole bunch of firsts ensue.
1. Part 1

Before We Go

Oh my God I just really really really loved writing this. Like guys, for real, it took me maybe 3 months of writing and taking a break and writing and taking a break, etc. I got the idea after watching a movie called Before We Go with Chris Evans(hubba hubba) and kind of went from there. I liked the idea of one day and a mission so this is what I came up with. I didn't want to do chapters because I feel like they're a bit constricting and for this story I wanted it to seem like a rush of a million things at once, but I did have to split it into 3 parts because of the long length. I hope you guys love it as much as I do! And please comment if you want a oneshot story about Sirius and Rachel! I want to wrote one, but I also want a reason! Btw thanks JK Rowling for harry potter because without you this would be impossible!

Part 1:

"Bugger!" Lily Evans yells as she kicks her foot against the stone wall. She winces in pain as she reaches down to grab her foot. _Son of a bitch!_ She thinks.

The young redhead looks around to check to see if anyone had seen her outburst. _Looks like it's clear._ She had just hopped off her train from Ireland. She spent her summer holiday with her grandmum and away from her family.

Lily leaned up against the wall of Kings Cross Station and takes a deep breath.

 _Fuck. I just spent my whole bloody holiday with an elderly woman and did not get one thing from my list done._

Lily had made a list on her train ride home from Hogwarts two months before. She had planned on doing everything she had never ever accomplished before starting her seventh year. I mean she was 17 and still had never been in a bar before.

She tucked her list into her pocket and began walking towards the exit. She was to catch a ride from a cab to get home. As she made her way through the thick crowds of busy people trying to get to their platforms, she runs straight smack into a firm figure.

"Fuck!" She yells as she steadies herself back.

"Oi! Sorry there, love! My bad." The deep voice apologizes.

"Ugh, perfect!" Lily sighs as she reaches down to shove her belongings back in her suitcase. Somehow everything had spilled out when she hit the man.

He reaches down and begins helping her get her things back in order when he says, "These are quite nice." And she looks up to see a handsome smirk and her bright red, lacy panties dangling from his finger.

"Give me those!" She screams as she snatches them from his grip.

"Interesting choice of knickers. I do prefer black, though." The man says smartly.

"Well good thing because they're not **for** your preference!" She zips up her bag and stands to meet his gaze.

"Now that you've basically assaulted me and ransacked my bag, would you mind moving out of my way?" She asked very shortly.

"Well, I don't seem to hear you apologizing to me yet, so no." He responds. He's about six feet tall, wide shoulders and a lean body. His glasses are thick rimmed and settle in front of his light hazel eyes.

"Apologize to you? For what, may I ask?" Lily responds quickly.

"For charging into me! You were basically running through here!" He outbursts while chuckling, gesturing to the station around them.

"I'm on a short schedule! I'm leaving for school tomorrow and I haven't even been home for one second this summer!" She cries. She is sick of the antics and wants to go home to be miserable.

"School? How old are you?" He asks her, scoffing.

"Seventeen. How old are you?" She quips back.

"Twenty. And how do you know I'm not on a short schedule! I'm off to training tomorrow morning, missy!"

"Don't 'missy' me! I'm not a child! I'm an adult, you ass!" Lily answers quite offended.

"Seventeen isn't an adult in England!" The man responds smartly.

 _Shit. Bloody muggle._

"Right, I meant almost adult." She responds exasperated.

"Unless," he says slowly with a sly smile, "what does the word 'diagonally' mean to you?" He asked emphasizing the pause between "diagon" and "ally."

She pushes him into a small alcove and presses him against the wall.

"What are you playing at?! Asking random strangers about 'diagonally'? Are you trying to get magic exposed?" She asks yelling at him.

"Calm down, I figured you were a witch. School tomorrow? Seventeen? Please **you're** trying to expose wizards."

"Whatever. Even though it was so damn brilliant meeting you, I am off." She turns in her heel and starts to walk out.

"Wait!" The man yells as she whips around to give him a dirty stare.

"You dropped this." He said as he held out a piece of paper.

 _My list!_

"Give that to me!" She screams as she reaches out to grab it. But Lily is too slow as the man whips around to read it.

"Lily's To Do List." He says. He turns to look at her, "What is this?"

"Nothing!" She reaches out again but he raises his hand in the air.

"Just give it to me! Aren't you tired of antagonizing me?" She yells as she jumps trying to reach her list.

"So this is why you're so eager to get home. You've got quite a bit to do before school starts tomorrow." He says examining the paper a bit further.

"Like you care! Just give it to me! You can see I have loads to do!" She yells at him.

He reads, "Never gotten into a fight," he looks her up and down, her cheeks flushed red and her chest heaving, "I don't quite believe that one."

"Well I don't really give a damn what you believe. Honestly, do you get off on bugging young girls?" Lily was at the end of her patience. The two of them were still in close quarters inside the alcove.

"No, but I am a bit bored. How about this, I get to help you accomplish everything on this list and I'll give it back to you." He proposed.

"I'm sorry but the list isn't really worth **that** much to me. But thanks." She turned to leave when she heard a mumble from the man.

"What was that?" She asked as she whipped around to face him. In his hand were her bright red knickers.

"If I get to help you finish the list, you can have these back."

She ran up to him and screeched, "Put those away before someone sees!" She huffed and said, "Fine. But only because I want those back." The bloke smiled at her. He pocketed her panties and put out his hand.

"Well, first let's get to know one another. James Potter."

"Lily Evans." James get a good look at her rounded face, freckles, large green eyes, and a pointed nose. _Pretty._ He thinks.

"What am I to do with my suitcase?" Lily asked, annoyed.

"Oh, right." James mumbled something under his breath and the trunk shrunk into the size of a house key. He handed it over and Lily stuck it in the pocket of her tight jeans.

"Well item one says you've never been in a bar. You're of age so that won't be problem." He puts out his arm and they apparate out of the station.

Pop! 

They land in the middle of the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley.

"I've never been in here before! Never had a reason to come in, I usually just pass through." Lily shouts at James over all of the noise.

He laughs and guides her to the bar, "Well, Tom's a good friend of mine, he'll take care of you." They both sit on the high bar stools, well Lily hops up, and James says, "Two firewhiskeys please."

"Is that your favorite?" Lily asks as she turns towards James.

"Nope, hate the stuff. Both are for you." He sends her a wink and puts a glass in her hand. "Bottoms up!"

Lily's eyes widen as she realizes that if he can't take the shot, how the hell is she supposed to? She gives him a frightened look and he tells her, "It's fine! I promise! I just prefer muggle liquor."

She nods and downs the shot. It burns like a firework racing down her throat. She coughs and James pounds her back.

"Only one more to go!" He shouts smiling proudly at her.

"Are you kidding? These are great! One more round, please!" She takes the next shot and shoots it down, licking her lips.

"Why don't you like it?" Lily asks. The atmosphere around them is full of chatting, loud magical folk. Some witches and wizards, working house elves, goblins, and even what looks like a small troll.

"It just isn't what I fancy. Muggle alcohol burns, but in a different way. They serve some at the pub I usually go to in London." He replies sipping on an alcoholic butterbeer.

"Oh, I've never had muggle alcohol before, except on a trip to France once where I had some champagne." She replied as she grabbed her last shot and finished it off.

"Why did you make this list?" James asked, changing the subject quickly. Lily was a bit caught off guard at the sudden question.

"I guess I felt like I hadnt accomplished anything cool since I became of age. I wanted some stories to bring aback to my friends and I didn't want to just be an inexperienced loser, I guess." She replied meekly.

"Well I barely know you and you don't seem like the quiet nerdy type to me. I mean, you practically got into a fight with a guy you merely bumped into and no geek I know owns racy knickers." He chuckled and added, "Plus you swear like a sailor." Lily blushed and felt self conscious all of the sudden.

"I'm a prefect at Hogwarts and I'm expecting a Head Girl letter when I get home. I don't know, I feel so much more different at school, like I'm trying to be a goody-goody, but not knowingly." She knew she didn't make sense.

James smiled at her. "Head Girl. Wow, I would love to see you giving it out to a pair of horny Slytherins out of bed past curfew."

"I've seen my fair share of hookups in the broom closets. No Slytherins though, they usually just bully people or smoke in the courtyard." She looked up at James, "What house were you in?"

"Gryffindor, home of the damn best lot of people in the world. What are you, Ravenclaw? You've got some wit to you." He guessed. When he talked about Gryffindor he shot straight up and puffed out his chest, so proud of his house.

"I'm actually a Gryffindor, too. We can be smart assess just as much as Ravenclaws," she said.

"Yes we can. Back in my day," James started but Lily's eyes wandered to the entrance of the bar when she saw Piper Whitlock walk in.

"Oh Merlin, hide me!" Lily screeched as she ducked behind James' wide figure.

"What? Why?" He turned to look for what was causing Lily's outburst.

"That's Piper Whitlock, Hogwarts Bitch. She hates me and she's coming this way, fuck." Lily straightened up and met Piper's eye.

"Why isn't Smelly Lily!" The blonde shouted, stressing Lily's name as 'Lelly' so her rhyme made sense. "What a surprise seeing you in public! I thought you would never see sunlight again after what happened at the end of term." She leaned in to whisper in Lily's ear, "Still smell like wet dog?" Pipers breath was hot and smelled like sour candies.

James looked at Piper quizzically as if wondering what she meant by that. Her outfit showed that Piper was an easy slag.

"Actually, a slow first year could figure out a counter charm to whatever spell you pulled out of your ass, and I didn't have a problem either. How's your summer job going? Streets still full of slimy men waiting to bed you for, oh what was it again, a knut?" Lily countered back to the mean girl. James' eyebrows raised at Lily's comeback.

"No actually, after your mother abandoned you two years ago, she took my spot." Piper said with a vicious smile. James' mouth dropped.

"Fuck you." Lily said darkly. She stood up to face the girl.

"Ouch! Still a wee bit fiery? They do say that leprechauns get riled up easy when talking about their deadbeat mothers."

BOOM! 

Lily straight on popped Piper in the face as hard as a pro wrester.

"Woah! Okay that's enough of that! Nice hook though, Lily." He grabbed her arm and apparated them to the street.

"What was that?!" Lily yelled as she looked looked around and realized they were no longer in the Leaky Cauldron.

"Unless you wanted Tom to call the Ministry, we had to get out of there!" James shouted.

"I wanted to get another hit in, stupid cow." Lily said under her breath.

"That was badass by the way. She deserved it." He said smiling as if remembering the punch.

"Well, it felt good for a second then I remembered how she was probably going to ruin my life next term. Which starts tomorrow. Awesome." Lily cradled her hand.

"Hey that's two items knocked off your list though! Go to a bar and get into a fight." James said cheerily as he pulled out a pen to cross them off. "Were 2/17ths done."

"Can I pick one?" Lily asked as she peered over James' shoulder to get a look at the list.

"Sure, it's your list." He replied handing it over then right before it reached Lily's hand, he snatched it back. "You're trying to steal it back!" He yelled.

"No I am not! Plus you still have my knickers, you dolt." She replied grabbing the paper. Her emerald eyes scanned the page before smiling. "This one." She pointed to the list.

"Cutting your hair? Isn't that a bit tame?" James asked smirking. Lily's hair was waist length with thick waves rolling through it.

"I've never, ever cut my hair short before. It's been at least below my chest since I was in primary school. My dad never let me cut it, he loves it long." She said twirling a piece of her red hair between her fingers.

"You're lucky then, I know the perfect hairdresser." James put out his arm for Lily to grab and then they popped out of the street.

"Where are we?" Lily asked as the pair appeared in a long hallway.

"This is my flat complex. The hairdresser you need, lives here, with me." Lily's eyes widened. "Your bloody roommate? I am not about to let just any old tosser with a pair of scissors touch my hair!" She yelped. Her hands instinctively hung onto her hair as if to protect her strands.

"Trust me, this bloke does not joke about hair." James pulled out a key and opened the door. Inside was a large flat with a full wooden kitchen and a messy living room. The walls were covered with newspaper clippings, muggle and magical.

"Padfoot!" James shouted out inside the apartment. He closed the door behind Lily and shouted for him once again.

 _Padfoot? What kind of name is that?_ Lily thought.

A man around James' age came through one of the doors and his eyes widened when he saw Lily.

"I told you not to bring anymore birds home without a damn call, Prongs! Fuck!" He turned on his heel and headed back to his room and came out a moment later in a tight grey tshirt that brought out his eyes and black jeans.

"Hello love, the names Sirius Black." He bowed down to kiss Lily's hand softly. James swatted Lily's hand away and yelled, "Cut the crap, Padfoot. This is Lily and she needs a haircut. I thought I could trust you not to be weird!"

"A haircut? Not a problem! I have a way with manes." Sirius said as he flipped his shoulder length, choppy hair. It's glossy appearance reflected off the lights in a glowing fashion.

"So your trained to cut hair? Listen I'm not going to wing this, I want a good, professional haircut." Lily told Sirius sternly.

"Are you kidding?" He turned to James, "Is she blind? Does she not see the gloriousness of my hair?" He looked at Lily and took her hands, "Sweetheart I am going to give you a haircut so good, you will be shouting my name by the end of the night."

"Enough! I swear to Merlin, Padfoot, if you don't shut the hell up we're out of here." Jame yelled, his eyes flashing with anger.

"Please just don't fuck it up, okay?" Lily asked. She was sat down in their kitchen chair and her hair magically washed and damp.

"So what length are you going for, love?" Sirius asked as he combed through her long mane.

"I'm thinking mid throat, something sassy and fun. But please not too short in the back, I still want to put it in a ponytail, even if it is a nub." Lily replied.

"I can do that. Any layers?" He asked as scissors appeared in his hand and he began chopping.

"Not too many, enough for texture."

"Okay, just give me a bit and you will be a whole new Lily."

"One, two, three!" Lily's hand shoved up as she took the hand mirror to see her new haircut. She was already in love with it. The nice blunt ends and sassy swish it made when she shook her head made her smile giddily. She jumped up to hug Sirius. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She yelled as she kissed his cheek.

James hopped up from the couch and took a look at Lily's new hair.

 _How could she look better than before?_ He thought.

"Thanks for the favor, Sirius, but we're off." In a millisecond he was up next to Lily, slightly blocking her from Sirius.

"Where are you going now?" Sirius asked as he magically cleaned up her chopped hair strands around the floor.

"We're going to lunch. Chinese food." James sent a quick wink to Lily. One of the items on her list was to try Asian cuisine.

"Fun! If you want you could grab me a fortune cookie. I need some guidance on this whole Gwen thing." Sirius looked at Lily and added, "My kind of sort of not really girlfriend." She nodded.

"Thank you again for the haircut, I'll call you up when I need a trim, next time!" Lily hollered as they made their way to the door.

"So what Chinese place?" She asked.

"Only the best." James said as she took his arm.

"Panda Express? Are you joking? Is this even authentic?" Lily asked as she shot James a dirty look.

"Yes! Of course it is! You'll love it all the same." They walked up, ordered and then sat down to eat.

"So why have you never had Chinese before?" James asked as he opened up his chopsticks.

"I really don't know, to be honest. Family just never was a fan, I guess." She took a bite of her rice.

"So what item on the list can we do that's quick, something while we're eating." Lily asked as James pulled out the paper.

"Hmmm, never stolen anything?" James asked.

"No, I don't want to take anything from here. Next one." Lily replied.

"Ooh! Use magic!" James said excitedly.

Lily responded in awe, "Seriously? We're in a muggle restaurant! Not only would I be breaking wizarding law number one, but also why would I waste my first adult charm on a simple accio for a salt packet?!"

"Come on, just do it." James said lazily. She shot him a stare and concentrated. A single salt packet came racing towards her and landed on her lap. She looked around to check if anyone saw.

"Okay, check! Did magic outside of school." Lily said, happy to have another item off the list. James smiled, slightly amazing at her nonverbal spell casting.

 _She's a unique one, that's for sure._ He thought as he watched her finish her food.

"So you said you age training tomorrow, what for?" Lily asked as she re-gripped her chopsticks.

James swallowed, "Auror training. First year is in Norway, then Bulgaria and then Whales. I don't know why those places specifically, but I'm defiantly interested to find out."

"Auror? That's a bit frightening. Have you always wanted to that?" She questioned.

"Well, for a bit I wanted to be a professional chaser for a quidditch team, but after seeing all the traveling and time spent practicing, it didn't seem worth it."

"Isn't that the same as being an Auror?" Lily thought about Auror training before, but this last year at school would make up her mind about backing a ministry worker, an

Auror or a healer.

"Similar, but still different. Authors dedicate three years to strict training, but then you get to choose your home office and only travel for short spurts of time. Quidditch is every single year and traveling around the world until you retire," he answered. Lily didn't know what to think. For just meeting someone she felt awfully close to James. It was like they had known each other for years.

"Aren't you scared of fighting dark magic? Especially with all the fighting already beginning?" Lily asked softly, remembering some of the warnings she got from an old friend last year.

James smiled at her, "That only fueled my fire to join."


	2. Part 2

Part 2:

"Where are we?" Lily asked as she studied her surroundings. She was on a beach with the wind whipping her hair around her face.

"We are at La Casa de Potter, or as less cool people call it, my summer home." James said as he grabbed her hand and walked her to the beach house up a sand dune.

"Why are we here?" She asked as she looked up a the large grand house. It was white with sky blue detailing and a big back porch.

"You said you had never seen a house elf before, I know one personally who would love to meet you." James said as they walked into the house. Lily heard a pop noise and there was a small figure in front of her.

"Lox at your service, Master James." Said the house elf. He came to about Lily's waist and was wearing a bright, blue smock.

She bent down to shake his hand, "Hello, I'm Lily. Very nice to meet you, Lox."

Lox bowed graciously for her kindness and asked if there was anything he could do for her.

"I'm okay, maybe later." She said nicely. "So how long have you lived with the Potters?"

Lox replied, "Ever since I was born, my family tree dates back generations with the Potters. I'm one of the luckiest elves alive. My sister Corky works here with me and our parents work at Potter Manor."

"Oh, interesting. Tell your sister I said hello." She said with a smile. Lox turned to James and slightly dropped his voice. "Is this your girlfriend, Master James, because I like her very much."

"No!" James and Lily shouted at the same time. Then looked at each other, then looked back at Lox.

"Oh, my apologies, I'll be in the kitchen." He said, very embarrassedly as he popped out of the room.

"So, how do you like house elves?" James asked after a moment of awkward silence.

Lily replied, "Oh! They're very sweet and so polite! I can't believe I'd gone this long without meeting one."

"Have you never seen one at school?" James asked. He had a few relationships with elves at a Hogwarts because of his trips to the kitchen.

"No, I never see them. I know they're there, just out of sight." She then looked around the room and asked, "Where's your loo? I know we should be going soon so we can continue, but this will only be a moment."

"Down the hall and first door on the left." James said pointing down the hallway.

"Thanks!" She replied as she walked down the corridor.

A few minutes later she walked back and said, "I know where we should

go to next." James gave her a smirk before he placed out his arm for Lily to grab onto.

"You have a license, right?" James asked nervously.

"As far as you know," She replied the spun on her heel.

Lily and James popped into an alley in Surrey, close by to where Lily lives. Disoriented, James hands ended up near Lily's ass. "Hands!" She yelled and James' hand flew to his hair. "My apologies. So disorienting." Lily shot him a disapproving stare and looked around.

"This way!" She shouted as she started fast walking to the main road. James jogged up to meet her speed.

"Are we in Surrey?" He asked. His chest was heaving. _Damn she's fast._

"Ya I live over there," Lily pointed to a row of houses a few yards away.

"Do you want to stop in?" James asked. _She hasn't been home all summer._

"Oh no! I was dreading going home, anyways. We're almost there, catch up!" She yelled over her shoulder.

"Here we are!" Lily said as she looked up at the store sign, "Pottery by Teresa."

"Oh bugger, I forgot about this one. Painting pottery." James said dryly as he realized what they would be doing.

"Oh hush! My dad never let me come in here to try painting. He said it was a waste of time, but I've always wanted to try it." They walked in and began searching for pottery to paint.

"How about this?" James asked as he held up a plate for Lily's approval.

"No, I want something less plain. I would rather an animal." She said as she kept looking.

"Oh I want to paint this one!" Lily said as she held up a ceramic deer. James' eyes went wide.

"Oh, ya that's nice." He stuttered out.

 _How did she pick a damn stag out of all the bloody animals in here? Weird._

"I'll do the same." James decided.

"Well, don't copy me! Poser." She joked.

"For your information I love deer. Very majestic and they say they rule the forest," James said smugly.

Lily laughed, "Oh yes I'm quite sure." They sat at on stools and began to paint. Lily chose the creative route and painted her stag in dark blues with a lot of reflecting light, like as if the deer was outside in the moonlight. James decided to go with browns and a more realistic idea.

"We should ask someone to judge on who's deer is better." Lily said as they painted,

"Yours would win," he replied. James was well aware that he was a poor artist.

"That's why I wanted a competition! I wanted to win!" Lily said happily. He smiled and looked at her. Lily's now short hair was clipped back away from her face so she could paint, a splash of blue paint on her cheek from when her dirty hands itched her face. Her eyes were in concentration as she painted fine lines on the deer's fur to look more life like.

"Why didn't you want to go home?" He asked after a moment. Lily's face fell a bit and she replied, "I guess I didn't have anything to look forward to there. I mean my sister moved out to live with a few friends in a flat and my dads not home a lot. You heard what Piper said, my mom left a few years ago." The last bit Lily said with sad eyes.

"Do you get along with your sister?" He asked.

Lily laughed and said, "Like fire gets along with water. We don't speak anymore. She never really was okay with me being a witch. Neither was my mom, that's one of the reasons she left. She had been raised really Catholic and she thought witchcraft was a demon taking over my soul. Dad was a bit more understanding, thank Merlin."

James could tell she didn't want to talk about it any further and decided to lighten the mood. He leaned over and painted a black line across Lily's forehead.

She gasped, "You bugger! Come here!" She reached out and got a glob of blue paint in James' hair. Soon they were having a full on paint battle, laughing and screaming.

"Don't you dare, Jame Potter! Get away!"

"Make me, Evans!"

"Oh you nasty-" Lily was cut off by the sound of shattered pottery. They both look over and see that in the midst of their fighting, someone had knocked a plate off the shelf and it fell to the floor.

"Out!" The worked yelled as she ushered the two of them out of the shop.

"So sorry!"

"My apologies!" They yelled as they tried to contain their laughter.

"You look like a hot mess!" Lily shouted at James. Paint was in his hair and covered his clothes. His glasses were glazed over with blue paint.

"Like you're much better!" He replied. Then he waved his wand and they were cleaned up magically.

"Thanks," Lily breathed out. Her heart was still racing from their paint fight and they were facing each other, very close.

"Not a problem. I am trained for this kind of thing." He replied. They were just barely touching. James then grabbed Lily's waist and POP they were gone.

"Oh damn you! You scared the shit out of me!" Lily yelled as they appeared outside a large, fancy building.

"Where are we?" She asked, looking around.

"Welcome to the London Symphony. Meeting a few friends here. Follow me and we can get changed." James said as he opened the door for Lily.

"Changed? What's wrong with our clothes?" She asked.

"This is a symphony, Lily, not a muggle backyard barbecue," he looked at her outfit up and down before adding, "no offense."

"Offense!" Lily shouted as James guided her down the halls to a small closet. He opens the door and gestured for her to get in.

"I'm not getting in there! It's a dingy cleaning closet!" She screamed. James then pushed her in and closed the door behind him.

"You're an ass, you know that?"

"Well aware, actually," he replied cheekily. He pulled out his wand. "Any dress requests?" James asked.

"Dress requests? Like your going to magic me a dress?" Lily asked.

"Precisely. Now we're running out of time so I get to pick!" He waved his wand and Lily was in a tiny little black dress fit for a hooker.

"James! You prick! Don't look at me!" Lily screeched, mortified at her exposed cleavage and bare legs.

"Only kidding!" He waved his wand again and she was in a floor length sapphire colored gown. It was strapless and fit tightly over her figure. "This okay?" He asked, waiting for her approval.

"Yes, this is good. Very nice." Lily replied running her hands across the silk.

Then James ran his wand in front of his body and he was in a formal tuxedo with shining shoes.

"What about my hair?" Lily asked, she was worried it was too casual.

"You're a witch, aren't you?" He said as he smirked.

Lily then concentrated and her hair was now in structured waves with a fancy silver clip that had sapphire stones on it to put up the side of her hair.

 _Woah._ James thought as he looked at Lily. _Fuck._

"We're in a rush, right? Let's move!" Lily commanded as she pushed James toward the door of the closet. He opened it and they walked down a few hallways and into the auditorium. James pulled out a pair of tickets and they began searching for their seats.

Lily spotted Sirius in his bright maroon tuxedo. "Prongs! Over here!" He shouted. The two of them shuffled over and sat down.

"Lily you've met Sirius before, then this here is Remus and Peter," they smiled at Lily and she shook their hands, "and then this is Alice Fortescue and her boyfriend Frank Longbottom."

"Lily?" Alice asked as she got a good look at the redhead. "Oh Merlin! I haven't seen you in ages!" Alice threw herself over Frank and Peter to hug Lily. The boys looked confused.

"Lily was a fifth year prefect when I was a seventh year prefect! Isn't that so funny? We got pretty close! Such a shame I had to graduate and leave!" Alive said throwing her head back in laughter.

"Ya! Oh I'll never forgive you for leaving me with that lot! A bunch of idiots they were! It's amazing how these things happen!" Lily responded.

"Peter do you mind switching seats with me? You can sit on the other side of a Frank I just need to catch up with Lily." Alice asked sweetly.

"Oh not a problem!" Peter shifted over. He was only about 5'10 but he was quite nicely built and had nice shiny blonde locks.

"Ya know, I love a good family reunion but the show is starting." Sirius said snarkily.

Jame leaned over to whisper in Lily's ear, "Sirius was raised in a very traditional and pristine household. He loves symphony's and fancy dinners out. It's hilarious to watch him get all riled up over things like this." His hot breath made Lily's body erupt in chills as it puffed in her ear.

She looked at him a smiled.

"Ya know when I said concert, I really didn't mean a symphony." She told James.

He responded, "I know. I'll take you to a head banging mosh pit concert sometime for a real rager."

 _Sometime? Will there be another time where we're together?_ Lily thought. She was hopeful that she would see James again. Then she turned forward and the music began.


	3. Part 3

Part 3:

"That was amazing! I thought it would be a total snooze fest, but I really enjoyed myself!" Lily exclaimed to James and Sirius on their way out of the building. Lily loved talking and joking with the boys.

"Peter I thought I was going to have to murder you each time you un-clipped my hair!" She shouted as she laughed like a hyena.

"Sirius?" Lily and the Marauders turned to see a short, brunette in a cobalt dress on the arm of a handsome bloke.

"Rachel?" Sirius asked softly. His eyes diverted to the man next to Rachel. He cleared his throat, "Uh, how are you?" He asked.

"Brilliant. Great. You?" The conversation was full of tension. I looked at James and searched in his eyes for some kind of explanation to what was happening.

His hazel eyes started back into mine worriedly.

"Amazing," Sirius looked at the man and put out his hand, "My apologies for being so rude. I'm Sirius Black and these are my friends."

"Lars Pendleton, how do you know my fiancé?" He asked. Lars dark blue eyes were questioning Sirius.

"Fiancé? Seriously, Ray?" Sirius looked at Rachel with sad eyes and and a scary smile of hurt.

She bit her lip and looked at Lars. "We used to date, once upon a time."

Sirius nodded his head and looked desperately crushed. "I guess I'll be waiting for my invitation in the post. Nice meeting you, Lars," Sirius looked at Rachel with the most pained expression, "Ray." And then he turned and stalked off.

"What was that?" Lily asked as Lars and Rachel walked off.

"Rachel and Sirius dated all through Hogwarts and a little bit after. They broke it off when Rachel moved to Italy to be with her family and to work as an ambassador for the Ministry. She told him that she wasn't ready for s relationship and didn't want to try to do long distance. I guess she changed her mind. He didn't even know she was back in England."

"That's terrible. She looked so upset. She obviously wanted to be with him." The look in her eyes said it all.

"Well, she messed up. And she's with Lars now, I guess." James ruffled his hair and turned to Lily, "let's brighten the mood, shall we?"

"Why are we on Waterloo bridge?" Lily asked as the pair peered over the side staring at the Thames.

"Number 6, skinny dipping." James smirked.

"What? You're joking! People are around! The sun hasn't even fully set!" Lily screamed.

"Come on! It was on the list! We were bound to do it!"

"I can do this one alone!" She yelped. Her cheeks were cherry red and her breath was short.

"That's no fun! I promise not to look!" James crossed his fingers behind his back.

"Please Merlin do I have to do this?!" She asked staring at the sky in terror.

"Strip." James commanded as he began taking off his coat and unbuttoning his shirt." Lily stared at him with her mouth open. "Oh, dear pelase excuse me. Let me unzip your dress. How horribly rude of me." James turned her around and unzipped her dress and for good messer unclipped her bra.

"You evil little man!" Lily spit at him as she took off her expensive earrings.

"You won't be saying that in a moment," he said under his breath as he unbuckled his belt.

The people around them were giving them weird looks but not approaching them.

"I've put a disillusionment charm on the muggles. All they see are two smart naked statues."

"Bloody hell," Lily said as she shimmied off her dress and kicked off her heels. Her hands were covering her chest and she looked up at James whose hands were covering himself.

"I'll take off my knickers in the water." Lily explained as James rose an eyebrow at her black lace panties. She couldn't even believe she was doing this with him.

"Right." They both turned towards the water.

"Ready?" James asked. Lily only had a second to turn to look at him before he pushed her in the water. She grabbed his arm and he followed her down.

Splash! 

Lily had screamed on the way down and she had resurfaced to see James' glasses covered in water droplets. She swam away from him slowly. "You stick over there and I'll be over here, got it?" She commanded. He nodded and she reached down to pull off her knickers and then she wadded them up in her hand.

As Lily was looking around her she felt James hand grab her panties out her hand. She looked up and he had already swam away. "I'm starting a collection!" he yelled from his place in the river.

"Fuck you!" She shouted. To kill two birds with one stone, she decided to get back at James and to cross an item off her list. While James' back was to her, she charmed his glasses to see only upside down.

"Oi! What did you do to me!" He yelled as he turned to look at Lily but only saw sky.

"Number 13: prank someone without any help!" She shouted to explain.

She was just about to take off the charm before a something grabbed her leg and pulled her under.

"Lily?" James asked as he looked around. To see clearly, he took off his glasses and everything was right-side up again. It was blurry, but better. He didn't see her anywhere and so he summoned his wand and looked under the water. He saw a green figure pulling a screaming Lily deeper and deeper.

James dove down and stunned the creature. He then grabbed Lily by her waist, realized she had gone unconscious and pulled her to shore. James procured a towel and wrapped her in it while summoning his pants. He then gave mouth to mouth and began CPR. Lily choked up some water and he eyes opened as her lungs filled with air.

"What happened?" She sputtered out, holding her towel tightly around her.

"That was a mermaid. Not the sweet kind in muggle books. The evil, I want to kill you kind," James responded. He was panting and rolled over next to her.

"You saw me naked," Lily said without emotion.

"Yep," he responded.

"Brilliant." 

After the run in with the mermaid, the pair decided to head to Gringotts to get money for dinner. Swimming and almost dying in the Themes really wore the two out.

"So do you know your vault number?" James asked. It was Lily's first time to her Gringotts vault. She had just used muggle money in her past Hogwarts years and converted it, but she had bought her own vault when she turned 17, though she had never visited it.

"671, and I have my key." She replied as she ran her fingers through her hair. She was still getting used to the length. James and Lily walked up to the first open desk and Lily said, "Hello, um, I would like to make a withdrawal?"

The old, grumpy looking goblin didn't even look up at her. "Vault number?" He asked as he was still looking down and writing.

"671," she answered softly.

"Name?" 

"Lily Evans. Oh and I have my key."

"Security question is, what is your favorite candy?" The goblin asked.

"Sugar quills." Lily answered confidently.

"All right. Please follow me." He hopped off his stool and led them to the carts.

"Is this what you do everytime?" Lily asked James.

"Yes. And the more money you have, the more fun the cart ride is."

"We'll get ready for a lame ride then," Lily responded with a nervous laugh. She was right, too. The cart went straight then turned left, then slowly declined and then stopped. Rather boring.

"Vault 671. Key please." Lily handed over her key. He placed it the lock and turned it, opening her small vault.

"Just a minute," Lily told James as she stepped inside the door. She returned moments later with a bag full of coins.

"Fantastic. Now dinner," James told Lily.

"Now dinner."

"I can't believe it's already 9:00," Lily said as she took a bite of her pizza. She convinced James to get a muggle meal for dinner. They were walking around London and toward an open park.

"Well, we started at around 8:30 so it truly had been a full day," James replied peeling a pepperoni off his slice and eating it.

"We got 11 things done, that's pretty good," Lily replied, "but not good enough." Lily stared at the 6 things she had left on her list. James had put plus marks on all the ones they had completed.

Lily's To Do List

1\. Never been to a bar +

2\. Never stolen anything

3\. Never gotten into a fight +

4\. Never eaten Chinese Food +

5\. Never had the perfect kiss

6\. Never gone skinny dipping +

7\. Never done magic outside of school +

8\. Never painted pottery +

9\. Never been to my Gringotts Vault +

10\. Never met a House Elf +

11\. Never been to a concert +

12\. Never cut my hair short +

13\. Never done a real prank +

14\. Never rebelled against my dad

15\. Never met anyone who was Portuguese

16\. Never known a criminal

17\. Never met someone who has changed my life

"James you can cross off number 2," Lily said with a sly smile. They had sat down on a bench in the park, with only the light of the street lamp beside them.

"What did you steal? I was with you the whole time!" James exclaimed, surprised Lily had tripped him up.

"I think you would recall going to the loo with me," Lily answered as she pulled out a baby picture of James from her back pocket. He was sitting in the bathtub with a washcloth on his head and soapy bubbles floating in the air around him.

"Evans! Oh my God!" He ripped the picture from her hands as she laughed herself to tears.

James looked at his photo before looking incredulously at Lily. "Wow, I am not easily surprised and you surprised me," James hagan a slow clap, "well done."

"I just wish I got more checked off, though. The rest are just chances and not in my control." James scanned the list and smiled to himself.

"I'm about to blow your world," he said smiling widely at Lily.

"What do you mean?" She asked slightly intrigued.

"I am 1/8 Portuguese and," he leaned in to whisper, "a criminal." He jabbed her sides and made her jump.

"You are not! What have you done?" Lily asked with wide eyes.

"I'm sort of an unregistered animagous," James paused and looked up at her. Lily's shocked eyes told him to go on. "Fifth year, me and the boys decided to become animagi. We had a very good reason, but that I cannot tell you."

"What do you turn into?" Lily asked amazed.

"A stag. That's why I was so surprised you picked a deer to paint at the pottery place."

Lily nodded in understanding. "You know, I won't tell anyone," she said lightly.

"I know you won't. I wouldn't have told you if I thought you were a snitch."

"That still leaves two."

"Two? Don't you mean three?" James asked as he looked over the list again.

"No, two. You're the person who has changed my life. That sounds so corny saying it out loud, but before this morning, I was kind of a loser. I had friends and everything, but I was so careful and had to think everything through. You changed me into this kickass type of girl. I don't know how to thank you," Lily said. Feeling all sappy has added, "but you're still an ass for taking my knickers and pushing me in the Themes."

"You grabbed me and pulled me in! That's just as bad!" He replied. "And Lily, you really only have one left because I pm pretty sure this whole day we defied your dad," James explained. They were sitting on the bench, hips just barely touching and looking at one another.

"Ya, I guess I did," she replied. Realizing the last item in the list she blushed.

"One more to go, then," James said, smiling weakly at her.

"Mmhhm." Her eyes diverted to his lips then to his eyes.

James began leaning in and then he grabbed her waist and she felt a pull at her navel.

"Bugger!" Lily shouted, but she then realized they were standing at the top of the Eiffel Tower and she turned to James. He then swooped down and kissed her. She could feel her toes crinkle and fireworks go off her head like magic.

James pulled her back up and broke the kiss. "What that the perfect kiss?" He asked as he looked down at Lily's flushed face and smile.

She laughed, "It was alright, I suppose," she said before grabbing his face and kissing him again.

The pair kissed and laughed on the tower all night until morning.

"Got everything?" James asked as he helped Lily load her resized trunk onto the trolley.

Lily smirked and said, "Just about. I think you still have _two_ pairs of my knickers."

"Right." He dug in his pocket for the panties before slyly placing them in Lily's hand.

She opens her fist and saw her two missing knickers and smiled. She balled up the black ones and put them in her pocket before reaching up and kissing James. Mid-kiss she stuck the black knickers, his preference, in his back pocket.

"These knickers are for you," she whispered in his ear and smiled.

James kissed her cheek and replied, "Must be my lucky day."

They turned to see the clock strike 10:55. They both had only 5 minutes to board their trains. Looking back at one another with sad eyes, they embraced until the clock struck 10:58.

"I'm happy I'm a clutz," Lily whispered in James ear as they hugged.

"Why?" 

"Because if I hadn't ran into you I would've never realized how badass I am."

They broke apart and Lily added when she saw James questioning eyes, "Oh and I got to meet you."

James laced his fingers with hers and they kissed one last time. He kissed his way to her ear and said, "until next time," and he turned to walk away. His pace was so fast and she saw his head twitch, like he was almost going to turn around.

Lily took a breath as she watched him go to his platform and then realized the time. She had less than a minute to get on the train.

She hauled ass onto platform 9 and 3/4 and hopped onto the express. Once she found her friends she sat down to breathe.

"Lily, how was your summer?" one asked.

With a smile on her face, she looked out the window as the train pulled out of the station and replied, "Lets just say, I got a lot done."


End file.
